


This Happened Before?

by celestialriptide



Series: The Totally Average Adventures of Everyone Being Entirely Human and Normal [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: College AU, Crack, Galra Keith, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, allura still might not be human, friendship best ship, keith is still purple sometimes, lance is more done than shiro, lance still might be losing his mind but he's done caring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 01:07:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13135953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialriptide/pseuds/celestialriptide
Summary: “Oh, man, buddy,my guy,” Lance laughs and wraps an arm around Keith’s shoulders, pulling him back to the couch to resume their calming session, “You have no idea. I wish that was only the second time.”“Or the third,” the chorus calls. “Or the fourth.”





	This Happened Before?

**Author's Note:**

> guess who's back, back again, you're right fuckers, it's ryn
> 
> aight anyway, so like. i was gonna write the first time this happened, but like. no inspiration for two months struck and then i finally thought "i wanna write!! i can write this, oh my god" and it turned into the, uh, fifth time this happened instead, but imo that makes it even funnier. You don't technically have to read he does that sometimes to understand it, but it may just make a lot more sense if you do. it's whatever though, up to you. now, enjoy some good christmas cheer.

Lance has seen his fair share of ridiculous things in life. The proof is in everything that he is; college student, from a big family, people person. He’s been around too much in his time on this Earth to really be shocked by much of anything, he tells himself. He’s kind of a go with the flow dude, doesn’t really worry about much to let it phase him past the simple raise of a brow, maybe a artfully questioning look when he’s feeling particularly curious. He’s seen friends seemingly shapeshift; he’s watched a goddess walk among men (jury’s still out on what the hell Allura’s deal is); he’s seen a man sit by watching, unperturbed, as his arm goes up in flames; he’s watched a purple alien pose as a student with no questions but his own posed. He’s so, so done with being caught off guard by anything. 

These are just the facts of his life. His best bro is a culinary and mechanical genius with an affinity for arson. The girl he’s captivated by might not be from the mortal plane. The hottest, most intimidating guy he’s ever had the pleasure to drool over is...quite possibly the chillest dude on the planet, unshakable. His best-friend-slash-biggest-rival-slash-curiosity is a purple cat man, but only sometimes, and not in the furry way (unfortunately, Lance finds himself thinking often, because it would be easier to deal with if it _were_ the normal furry way). The grad science major that hangs out with them has an undergrad science major little sister that’s a year above him and two years younger than him, and they may or may not have every last one of the group bugged in some way. He is so, so done with being genuinely surprised by anything. He’s done asking questions. Nothing in the world makes any sense, and Lance has learned to deal with it. 

So he is absolutely, 120% _unmoved_ by the events at their Christmas party. One last get together before they all go home for the holidays. Bake some cookies together, hang out in their pajamas, swap gifts, watch some movies. No biggie, none at all. They’ve just finished up the “presents” part of the night, and they’re chilling before they start the “cookies” portion while Rudolph plays in the background. Pidge has Coran cornered by the fireplace, excitedly showing him something on her computer while Coran’s eyes go wide with pride. Allura and Matt are discussing the Christmas sweaters they bought each other. Hunk disappeared to the kitchen five minutes ago, and Shiro followed behind him saying something about drinks. Keith is laying curled up on his side on the couch, fully purple today, drowning in a sweater that’s nearly too big and too blue to compliment his soft violet skin tone with his head resting on Lance’s lap, a deep purr rumbling from his chest as Lance dances his fingers through thick hair and softly over large, flickering ears. 

It’s serene, there; warm and full of love. All of his closest friends under one roof, and he can’t say he’s actually excited to leave it the next morning. Instead of thinking on it, Lance makes himself focus on the movie, watching as the island of misfit toys comes to life. He focuses on the repetitive feeling of Keith’s hair threading through his fingers, careful and wary of his ears, and tries to lose himself in it. He nearly does, until he’s alerted to the fact that Keith isn’t as asleep as he thought he was when he hears soft sniffling coming from the head against him. When he looks down, Keith’s nose is twitching softly as he sniffs, face contorting into a frown before he opens his eyes. 

It’s the _eyes_ that kill Lance, now. Glittering gold and deep, deep violet that’s almost, almost able to be mistaken for blue, or gray, or maybe black depending on the light. They’re otherworldly and terrifying, and they’re locking with his gaze. Lance has never seen this particular brand of confusion on Keith’s face, and he’s curious (a single eyebrow raised, no more) as to what could be it's cause when Keith says, “I smell smoke. Burning.”

“Smoke? Nothing should be bu-” he cuts himself off because he’s been here in this situation before, but Keith hasn’t. He glances around the room for Hunk, and remembers that he moved on to the kitchen. He almost can’t believe it, it’s been so long since an incident like this, but he’s so, so, so over being shocked by anything that he just _accepts_ it. Then he remembers Shiro, too, going into the kitchen, and he’s forced to accept it _even harder_.

“Fuck, not again,” he groans as he pushes Keith off his lap, standing.

“Not again what? Lance, do you know what’s burning? Is Hunk burning the cookies, or something? Is this another of your weird traditions?” Lance just shakes his head at him, noting barely that Keith is following him into the other room. He kind of hopes he’s wrong, he really does, but he’s done being surprised so when he walks through the door and- yupp. There it is, and Lance is 120% unperturbed by this turn of events.

“Hunk, _why_?” There’s an island between Hunk and Shiro, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t Hunk that caused this. It’s not the first time, after all. It’s absolutely not the first time Lance has walked into a room to see Shiro staring at his burning hand like it’s the most normal thing in the world, but it is the first time he’s seen it happen while Shiro is _still wearing the arm_. 

“I didn’t- I! Lance!” Hunk, poor guy, is faltering. Lance can tell he, at least, is _very_ shocked by this turn of events. “I wasn’t even near him! It just, it just...he’s not near the oven or anything. It just kind of spontaneously combusted? This isn’t my fault.”

Shiro is carefully taking the prosthetic off now, delicately moving it to the sink. He’s silent as he drops it into the metal basin; he’s silent as he turns the water on; and he’s silent as the flames hiss to their watery death. Then, still unsurprised, unshaken, completely calm and at ease, he says, “It was probably Hunk’s fault. New upgrade last week, remember?”

“I-” Hunk looks ready to argue, before he pauses and deflates, “I forgot about that. Sorry, guys.”

Lance is moving from the room already, situation under control and no one harmed (this time). He’ll never forget the time Hunk lost his eyebrows when it decided to go up while he was working on a particularly delicate piece, it’s probably seared into his memory as deeply as it nearly was seared into Hunk’s retinas. Back in the main room, Allura cocks her head at him to ask if everything’s okay.

“Peachy, princess. Just Shiro’s arm again.” It get’s everyone’s attention, and he’s greeted by a chorus (“Again?” “What happened this time?” “Anyone hurt?” “How does this keep happening?”) but the only one he really notices is Keith’s addition, because it’s the only one that’s _new_.

“Again?” Keith is tugging him around to face him, brows drawn down in confusion and eyes searching, heated. “What do you all mean, ‘again’? Has this happened before?”

“Oh man, buddy, _my guy_ ,” Lance laughs and wraps an arm around Keith’s shoulders, pulling him back to the couch to resume their calming session, “You have no idea. I wish that was only the second time.”

“Or the third,” the chorus calls. “Or the fourth.”

“Or the fourth,” Lance repeats, smiling, and really...he thought nothing could surprise him anymore, but how much he wants to stay in this moment forever instead of going back home to all of his siblings and cousins is the greatest surprise he’s ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> you made it to the end, my dudes. as always: feel free to hmu @ [celestialriptide](http://celestialriptide.tumblr.com/) on tumblr where i cry about beautiful fictional men, and feel free to drop me a comment to let me know what you think or tell me what kind of shenanigans you think could take place in this 100% ~totally human~ college au. thanks for reading.


End file.
